Home
by LeSkuh
Summary: Squiffie. Kairi went back to Destiny Islands because she grew up there and considered it her home, right? Well what if Yuffie felt the same about Traverse Town? Wouldn't she go back there at the end and how far would Squall go to bring her back?
1. Seperated

**Home**

-Squirrel Tamer

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

**Chapter 1: Separated**

The sun was shining gently on the very tips of the castle, a small breeze drifted lazily through all the cracks and crevasses of the palace on their fourth day back at Hollow Bastion. Aerith had already been busy planting flowers along the castle walls and they were beginning to bloom thanks to her tender care. Four lone stragglers by the names of Aerith, Leon, Yuffie and Cid were slowly but surely cleaning off the cobwebs and trying to turn Hollow Bastion back to how they remembered. Although Yuffie seemed to be having troubles, seeing as how she had only been six when they left and had no idea how things had once looked. But she had been trying her best and that was enough for her friends.

"No Yuf," Aerith's bright emerald eyes were full of understanding, "Those blankets go over there," She pointed to a closet, packed full with an assortment of pillows. Yuffie groaned and picked the big pile of blankets back up and walked towards the closet trying her hardest not to drop anything. Unfortunately as a sixteen year old, she seemed to be graced with the gift of clumsiness.

Yuffie tripped over one of her own shoelaces and fell forward; the blankets were flung into the air. Aerith groaned and shot a very displeased glance toward her younger friend who smiled sheepishly at her.

"Oh Yuffie!" Aerith mock yelled. Aerith was not the one to really yell at anyone, instead she was much more laid back and did what Yuffie and Squall called a "mock yell" where she wouldn't raise her voice and her eyes would still hold a smile to them, but she was still really angry or annoyed. Yuffie glared at her friend and stood up quickly, she didn't appreciate being yelled at.

"It was an _accident_! I tripped!" Aerith just shook her head at Yuffie and bent to pick up a deep blue blanket, which was now lying in a rumpled heap. Yuffie stuck her tongue out at Aerith's retreating back; the green-eyed woman didn't seem to notice.

"Why can't you start being more responsible. You are sixteen, you know? You could at least learn to properly tie your own shoes!" Yuffie rolled her eyes and turned away from Aerith. She didn't even glance back as she exited the room; Aerith sighed and bent down to pick up more blankets.

Yuffie felt anger welling up inside of her and it didn't help when she stubbed her toe against the corner of a wall. She swore darkly and leaped down the stairs. She heard a popping noise and felt the color run out of her face as she remembered that there were still Heartless running about, since Sora had still not closed the door. They knew he was close, but she had forgotten that just because he was close didn't mean it was safe yet. Yuffie reached for one of her shurikens and tossed it towards one of the large defenders blocking her escape. It bounced off its shield and flew back at her, she screamed and ducked, narrowly missing her own shuriken.

She looked back towards her opponent as the eyes of its shield turned white, Yuffie leapt to the side as a spray of ice floated from it. She breathed hard as the defender turned back to her. She jumped towards it, propelling herself off of its own head. She landed behind it and shoved one of her shurikens right through its stomach. The defender disappeared quickly and Yuffie ran out the front doors before anymore Heartless could appear.

She panted heavily, placing her hands on her knees and bending over trying to catch her breath. She opened her eyes but closed them almost immediately, Hollow Bastion was a whole lot brighter than the much more familiar Traverse Town. She had always loved being outside, but ever since she had gotten back she had found herself staying in the darkest rooms of the castle. In fact this was only the third time she had been outside since they had gotten back.

"I take it Aerith didn't want you there anymore?" Yuffie whirled around and scowled at the solemn figure of Squall Leonhart, wielder of the Gunblade and one of Yuffie's only companions since the Heartless had destroyed Hollow Bastion. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared darkly at him.

"Just leave me alone Leon," Squall raised an eyebrow at her, Yuffie was usually the little bratty kid who would rather fool around and play nasty pranks then act serious. But she seemed to have turned into a mirror image of Squall himself since they had gotten back home, while Squall was beginning to loosen up ever so slightly. He knew something was wrong with her and that he should try and help her, but too many years of her picking on him for no apparent reason had completely overrun the last few shreds of humanity that he had left.

"Oh no, something wrong with the poor ninja?" He watched as Yuffie clenched her fists and turned away from him. What he didn't see were the tears streaming down her cheeks, washing away year's worth of dirt. She hadn't cried since she was thirteen, when she broke her arm falling from the balcony of the hotel. Of course she completely blamed Squall for that, saying that he had upset her so much that she had run out the door and forgotten that the floor would be ending soon. Squall had his ear chewed off by Aerith that night. Yuffie smirked a bit, but still didn't face him. She knew her eyes would be all red and puffy, giving her away.

"I _said;_ just leave me alone, _Squall._" Yuffie made sure to put an extra emphasis on the man's real name. She could almost hear him stiffen and could swear that she felt the hairs on the back of her neck burning off from the intensity of his glare. She smiled to herself and turned to face him, forgetting that he would be able to tell. She smirked at him and then stuck her tongue out. He let out a low growl and leapt towards her.

Yuffie screamed and rolled to the side. But Squall was already ready to strike again. She felt him wrap his fingers around her throat and lift her off of her feet. She let out a whimper mixed with both pain and fear. He snarled at her and pushed her hard against the wall, she felt the back of her head smack against it and she whimpered again. It hurt like hell.

"Squall?..." She managed to choke out and his scowl darkened.

"Don't you _ever _call me that again, all right kid?"

_Kid_? Yuffie felt her insides began to boil. She was most certainly _not _a kid. In fact she had been through the same things that Squall had, maybe worse and he had the guts to call her a kid? He dropped his arm and she fell from his grasp, but she was up on her feet again in a second, this time _she _leapt towards _him_. He bent down and put up his arms to block, but she wasn't aiming to hurt him, instead she flipped neatly over him and then, while he was bent forward reached out and pulled his Lionhart pendent from right over his head.

"Yoink!" She cried happily and then sped off towards the inside of the castle heading for the next lift stop. Squall recovered a few seconds after Yuffie had left, he snarled and chased after the ninja, dragging his Gunblade behind him.

Yuffie had no time to fight Heartless, she simply ran past them, laughing while she did so. She slipped the pendent around her neck and darted onto a lift. She looked down below and giggled as she saw Squall gazing up at her, his eyes full of a fierce anger. It had always amused her when she bugged Squall, but he was _so _easy to bug. When she reached the next level she glanced around nervously, she knew that Squall would be coming up right behind her. She spotted a pile of rubble on one side of the ledge, she began climbing, heading for the roof of the castle.

She held her breath as she heard the lift coming up to the top. She had managed to make it three fourths of the way up of the rubble, before he appeared. He looked around for her, but apparently didn't notice her from her uncomfortable position on the rocks. He headed towards an open door and headed into the Bastion. Yuffie sighed and then climbed upwards even farther.

When she reached the very top she turned around and looked out at the whole world below her. She frowned.

She truly hated Hollow Bastion.

Sure, it had a much better view than Traverse Town ever had, but it was a lonely view. At least there were more than four people in Traverse Town. And what was she supposed to do if she ever decided that she would be willing to settle down and have a family? That left her with a _ton _of options, she thought sarcastically. Oh yeah, Cid and Squall the world's most charming men, and Cloud too if he ever came back.

Of course if Cloud ever came back Aerith would be on him faster than you could say: I love you. So that left just Squall and Cid.

Yuffie stuck her tongue out and made a gagging noise. Cid was _old. _Like father age old. It would be really creepy to marry Cid, not too mention completely _wrong_. And Squall...

Yuffie felt her cheeks redden. She had to admit that she enjoyed being with Squall. He made her feel safe and protected, but could she ever marry him?

No way, said the biggest part of her mind, he's _nine_ years older than you for goodness' sake!

But there was this small part of her mind that whispered over and over again. Yes! Yes! Yes!

Of course she could _never _tell Squall that.

What was she thinking about marriage for anyway? She had vowed a long time ago that she would never get married. Too much of a hassle. Besides no man on earth could keep up with the spunky ninja. She turned her thoughts in a completely different direction. Homes.

She could barely remember anything from before the Heartless. All that remained of her past life in the Bastion were snatches of her memories combined with Squall, Aerith and Cid's stories. But she did remember a ton of things that had happened in Traverse Town. And maybe that's why she truly preferred Traverse Town; her memories were there.

She remembered a long time ago, when her family went broke and they had to live in the poor section of Hollow Bastion. She had come back one day and said something like 'home sweet home'. She remembered her mother looking at her, a sad look in her eyes. She had pulled Yuffie close and told her:

'No. A home is the place you know and love, home is a place you truly enjoy going back to,' At that point her mother looked at the small place and tears rolled down her cheeks. She had always been pampered; she didn't convert to the normal way of survival easily. But then she turned back to Yuffie. '_This _is NOT a home.'

And to Yuffie Hollow Bastion wasn't a home either.

Traverse Town was.

She grew up there; all her best memories were there. Sure the sun never shone there and it was somewhat crowded. It had a funky smell to it and the hotel charged way too much for a room, but it was more of a home than her real one. Yuffie gently fingered the Lionhart pendant around her neck and whispered softly to herself.

"Traverse Town is my home."

Crash.

Yuffie screamed and leapt off of her pile of rocks, landing hard on the ground. But it was a strange kind of ground; it was white and reminded her of a storm cloud. She stood up quickly and was about to leap off of it when suddenly it broke away from the rest of Hollow Bastion. It was floating out in the middle of the sky, with Yuffie on it.

She had to get off.

She looked about frantically and spotted another piece of land floating towards Hollow Bastion, this one with a certain blond spiky haired old friend of hers. She called out to Cloud, but he didn't seem to hear her. She screamed out again, but he still didn't look towards her.

"Yuffie!" Yuffie turned back to the same ledge with the rocks she had been sitting on just moments before. She saw Squall staring at her, his mouth slightly ajar.

"Squall!" She cried out, tears streaming down her cheeks as she reached out for him. He pulled himself together and reached back. Yuffie struggled to grasp his hand but it was just out of her reach. They both fought for the other, but Yuffie's piece of land kept drifting further away.

"JUMP!" Yuffie could see the fear in her friend's eyes, she nodded preparing to jump, but she made the mistake of looking down first. She screamed and fell backwards. It was endless; if she fell she'd probably fall forever. She rubbed her eyes and held her hand out towards Squall; he couldn't do anything to change what was happening though.

"Squall..." She sobbed, wanting nothing more than to go back to him and Aerith and Cloud and Cid. But she was drifting away on her own little piece of a world.

"Yuffie!" She heard him call to her, "Don't worry! I'll find you, Yuf! I promise! Even if we're worlds apart! I'll find a way to bring you back!"

Yuffie pulled his chain off her neck.

"Here Squall!" She pulled her hand back, ready to throw it.

"No keep it!" His voice was fading and she could barely see him, "It's my promise!"

"I love you!" She screamed to him, before she could stop herself, but she never knew if he heard or not, because the next thing she knew she was floating on her little piece of a world, heading to a darkened world, full of neon lights. She could hear snatches of conversations floating around her, they were all different, but they all held the same reoccurring word.

Home.

~~~~

A/N: At the moment I am dropping all my other stories. I just kind of lost interest. But hopefully I'll finish this one. I've been working on other stories so I think I'm sort of improved...a bit...

It'll probably be Squiffie. It was just another of those weird ideas of mine. I thought if Kairi could go back to Destiny Islands because that was where she grew up and consider her home, than couldn't it happen to other people? Anyway, I suppose they'll probably spend the better part of this fic searching for each other.

Aren't you all so glad the Squirrel Tamer's back?

^-^


	2. A Fallen Angel

**Home**

-Squirrel Tamer

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

**Chapter 2: A Fallen Angel**

Yuffie blinked her eyes a few times, trying to see if the image in front of her would disappear. She could see Traverse Town looming in front of her; around her the sky was filling with more stars than she had ever thought possible. She knew that they were all of the worlds that had been destroyed by the Heartless going back. The sky around her was dark, but colorful filled with an array of deep purples and blues. She stared out in wonder.

The next thing she knew, she was thrown from her small piece of land and flung through the open doors of Traverse Town's exit. She threw her hands out in front of her to brace her fall. She swore darkly and then stood up.

She heard something behind her creaking slowly. She whirled around and screamed. The doors to the world's exit were closing on her. She ran towards them, but they banged shut just as she reached them. She pounded her fists against the solid wood, but neither door seemed to want to budge. They were jammed tight. Yuffie felt a sob escape from her lips as she threw her whole body against the door.

"OPEN!!!" She wailed and shouldered the door yet again. Still nothing happened and Yuffie sunk to the ground, rubbing her shoulder. "That really hurt, you know?" She asked the doors, they didn't answer her. She stuck her tongue out at them and gazed at the town again. It was so dark out and she was so cold. She put a hand to her heart wrapping her fingers around Squall's chain. Yuffie carefully lifted herself and looked around; trying to find something she could do to get back.

It didn't even occur to her that what had just happened was exactly what the young ninja had wanted. She had felt lonely and sad in Hollow Bastion even though she _was_ with her friends. Perhaps she really was just a kid, she had always wanted the thing she couldn't have. When they used to live in Hollow Bastion she had wanted to see other worlds, when they were all in Traverse Town she had just wanted to go home, and when she did get home she wanted out.

Yuffie sighed, pulling a hand through her tangled black hair.

"I guess I'll have to find someplace to stay," She muttered darkly. She glanced around the first district, her eyes wondering from the cafe to the item shop then onto Cid's shop. Her eyes lit up upon seeing the dirty old shop that she had grown up in. She ran up the steps and yanked open the large door.

She sneezed as she entered. Apparently the man left in charge when Cid had gone back to Gummi ships had not been doing a very good job. The whole place was covered in a thick film of dust, papers were scattered over the ground, she see the ladder leading to the moogle's sanctuary had fallen over crashing into the glass table in the middle.

The ninja placed a hand on the doorframe, wiping her hand against it until enough dust was wiped away to see the small nicks in the wood. She bent down, close to the bottom, she blew on the dust and it separated she studied the wood. Her name had been carved into the doorframe, there was writing carved beside a small notch about three feet off the ground that announced, Yuffie, age 6. She glanced up and could see the other places where Squall and Aerith's names had been placed. When they had first arrived at Traverse Town, Cid had attempted to take on the wondrous role of parent. The only problem was that neither Aerith, Squall nor Yuffie herself had really enjoyed the thought of Cid being their foster father.

Cid was a little bit of a...well...alcoholic.

Yuffie stood up and sighed and headed toward the back of the desk, she reached underneath a coffee mug and pulled out a small brass key, she placed the key in a lock on a cupboard underneath the desk. She giggled as a she pulled out a large bottle of rum. She knew that she was only sixteen, but she figured she deserved a drink for all of her hard work.

She was pouring the rum into a small glass when she heard the door creak upstairs. She glanced towards the trapdoor and gasped, the bottle falling from her hands. A black feather drifted downwards landing at the ninja's feet.

Yuffie's amber eyes widened and her mouth opened into a silent scream. He _can't _be here; she thought wildly, he just can't!

Yuffie didn't waste anytime in flinging open the door and sprinting towards the entrance into the second district. She could hear something following her, although she knew that its feet never touched the ground. It simply gliding along behind her, ready to suck her in and crush her like a bug. She pushed herself harder and rammed her shoulder against the second district doors.

They were flung open and Yuffie barreled through then turned to her left slightly heading for the gizmo shop. She entered quickly and slammed the door shut behind her, locking the simple chain clasp and heading for the back door. She pushed it open just as she heard the front door blown off of it's hinges, she squeaked and scrambled up the ladder to the bell tower.

At the top she headed onto the small stretch of land and bounded across to the rooftops of the hat shop and various other shops. Her plan was to go in the most confusing path she could, but where to go next?

She saw the small open window and leapt into it coming out in the third district.

"The vacant house!" She exclaimed to herself, and jumped down landing hard on her right leg. She grimaced and headed up the stairs a bit; she stopped when she heard something loud pounding onto the doors to the third district. She thought she had lost him, but he seemed to know exactly where Yuffie was going even though she herself was just making it up as she went along.

The vacant house would not stop him, but there was still a chance that she could confuse him enough so that he wouldn't be able to find her. If she headed into Merlin's lair she could ride down to the waterway using the small section of rocks that acted like a lift that she was fairly sure only Aerith, Squall, Sora and herself knew about and then either lock herself in a hotel room, or climb the boxes and hop back into the first district.

The pounding on the doorstop and Yuffie wasn't quite sure if that was good or bad.

"Oh well," She muttered as she clambered down the stairs and sprinted towards Merlin's magical door. "Open!" She screamed as the door slowly lifted upwards, too slowly for her liking. It was only halfway up when she dived underneath and same out onto the sandy shore beside a few rocks that moved from side to side, a minor setback when someone was trying to make an escape such as she was.

But she didn't let that faze her as she leapt onto the first rock, then to the next and the next. She saw the land almost right in front of her, her heart skipped a beat, and she had made it! In her excitement Yuffie miscalculated the jump and was about to land in the water only inches away from the edge.

She screeched as she fell, but was saved when a gloved hand grabbed her own hand and pulled her onto solid ground. Yuffie collapsed to her knees and closed her eyes, her whole body trembling in fear. Her savior looked down at her and the corner of his mouth twitched upwards, his long silvery hair blew ever so slightly in the strange wind, which always blew in the small cavern that had once harbored two of the greatest magicians in all the worlds.

"Hello, Yuffie." Sephiroth whispered.

~~~~

A/N: Sephy? What's he doing in there? Oh I dunno, just hanging out I suppose. Oh and I figured that everyone would understand the reason why Yuffie went back to TT. Yeah, it was mainly because she had spent most of her life their and in her own mind it was her real home. Kairi went back to Destiny Islands because she considered it her true home where she had grown up. A lot like Yuffie.

And to those who...er...seemed to be somewhat _upset_ with this story. Get over it. I never played FF8 and even if I did I would still like this coupling. Don't go flaming me just because you don't like the couple. _At least _point out some grammatical errors or something! So the Squiffie pairing stays.


	3. Circumstances

**Home**

-Squirrel Tamer

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

**Chapter 3: Circumstances**

"Aerith! Cid!" Squall Leonhart sped down another curving hallway wondering how much farther he had to go until he actually reached the library. He knew they probably couldn't hear his frantic yells, but that did not seem to phase Squall who kept running blindly along, not noticing how empty it was without any heartless around.

Yuffie was gone. Her small piece of land had floated too far into space for him to see. She was gone, just gone. He felt himself panicking, a feeling that was brand new to him. Squall had always seemed himself as the spokesman for the calm, cool and collected type. But after seeing Yuffie just disappear like that...

And those words she had said...

Squall froze, and placed his hand upon the railing. No, he thought wildly. The words he _thought _she said. She had been drifting away and was yelling to him as she disappeared from view. As she left he could swear that he saw her lips move to form three simple words that would plague him for a long time; 'I love you.'

But it couldn't be true, right? Yuffie was only sixteen. She definitely was not old enough to be in love with _anyone_, especially Squall. They had always treated each other as family. Or at least that's what he had thought. But then again, Squall always had been somewhat dense when it came to his female friends. It had taken him a long time to realize that Aerith would often cry herself to sleep, or that time when he had driven Yuffie so angry that she had plummeted off of the side of the green room's balcony. He really never knew when to stop yelling at her and be kind.

He brushed a hand through his hair. He felt kind of dizzy. Just thinking of what Yuffie _may _have said scared him. If she did love him, what was he supposed to do? But more importantly...

Did he love her, too?

He shook his head and continued his tireless journey to the library where he would finally be able to tell the others and then begin to formulate a plan to bring her back to him. Err...back to _everyone_. Squall shook his head. Things were not as simple as he wished they could be. But no matter what he could not let Aerith or Cid know what he had thought that Yuffie had said to him. Because if they found her and it was brought up and she said that he had been all wrong...They would tease him about it. Saying that it must have been wishful thinking.

Squall snorted. Wishful thinking that maybe Yuffie loved him? Yeah right.

The doors to the library were flung open and in rushed an out of breath Squall, whose hands were shaking slightly as he gripped his Gunblade. Three pairs of eyes turned to look at him and he turned his own gaze to them. His eyes widened as his eyes locked onto two dark blue ones. He looked at the man the eyes belonged to.

He had spiky blond hair. There was a large taped sword lying on the ground at his feet, which the man had obviously dropped when Aerith had entered his arms. A long reddish cape, torn in many places hung off of his broad shoulders. The man was slightly taller than Squall himself, making the woman within his embrace appear small and fragile. But he held her with so much warmth and love that it made Squall tremble for want of what the blond man had.

"Something wrong Leonhart?" The blond asked somewhat more roughly than he had intended. His reunion with his beloved Aerith had been interrupted and after nine long years it seemed as if the blond could not be held responsible for anything that he was thinking of doing to Squall for breaking them apart, if only for a few minutes. 

"Long time, Cloud." Squall said just as harshly with a nod towards the blond, "But I must remind you that it's Leon."

"Oh stop that nonsense right now Squall. You said that you would be willing to take back your own name once the heartless were gone and now they're gone. Right, Squall?" Aerith's green eyes were questioning and Squall knew she was afraid that something had happened, although she did not want to jump to any conclusions. Squall sighed. He hated being the one to break the bad news to his friends.

"Yeah. But now I have a new mission. I have to bring Yuffie back..." Aerith gasped and pushed herself out of Cloud's arms. She walked towards Squall, and wrapped her arms around herself.

"What do you mean, Squall? Where is Yuffie? Is she okay? Tell me what happened!" Aerith was backing Squall against the bookcase and wasn't about to back down. Squall hoped that Aerith believed in the concept of not shooting the messenger.

"I don't know where she is exactly or if she's safe either. We were fighting, she stormed off and the next thing I know she's floating away on a small strip of land. I tried to reach her, but wasn't able to. So we've got to go find her." Squall was surprised in himself. That was actually a lot more than he usually said. He tended to keep quiet unless he had something really important that needed to be known.

Tears ran down Aerith's cheeks as she fell to the ground, wrapping her arms around her knees and sobbing freely. Cloud ran to her, Cid coming up behind him. Cloud gently lifted Aerith up and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"Don't worry," He murmured gently.

"I can't stop crying Cloud. Why can't we all just be together? I just want us all to be together. But things never work out that way...First I lost you and now I lost Yuffie. What if we don't find her for _another_ nine years? Yuffie's only sixteen. She could get hurt." Aerith sobbed gently into the blonde's chest.

Cloud gently lifted her face so that she was looking into his eyes. She trembled slightly as he brought his lips to hers, pressing his mouth gently against hers. Aerith wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her.

Squall turned away in disgust as Aerith and Cloud continued their passionate embrace. He could hear Cloud murmuring that it was going to be all right over and over again to his beloved. Squall felt his chest tighten.

He knew he was jealous, but not because Aerith did not love Squall himself (he had always known that she would always be devoted to Cloud). He was jealous because they were in love and he knew that somehow he would never be able to experience that pleasure. He would always be alone.

But none of that mattered, because just because someone says that everything will be all right, it doesn't mean that it'll come true. And Squall was smart enough to realize that until they found Yuffie things would be all wrong.

~~~~

Yuffie opened her amber eyes ever so slightly. Her head hurt and she felt like she had been a grueling battle with a rather fat Heartless. She opened her eyes wider and looked around the red room. Everything was exactly how she had remembered it.

_Was it all just a bad dream?_ Yuffie wondered to herself. Was it possible that perhaps she had simply had a nightmare and she was still in Traverse Town with Squall and Aerith and absolutely, positively _no_ Sephiroth?

Yuffie smiled to herself. It must have been just a dream or else she would most definitely have been slain by the silver haired demon long before. The young ninja glanced down at herself.

She opened her mouth to let out a blood-curdling scream.

Her usually short black hair was long and a chestnut brown color. Across her upper torso was a button down pink shirt, like the ones Aerith had worn before they had escaped to Traverse. She looked at her hands; they were larger and more slender with long, clean fingernails. What happened?

Yuffie was beginning to become frantic. Was she Aerith? And if not then why was her hair the same color and length as Aerith's and why was she wearing Aerith's clothing? A more startling question erupted her mind. _I wonder...Do I **look**__ like Aerith, too?_

Yuffie slid out of the bed and walked towards the bureau. She looked into the large mirror and opened her mouth. She stared at the now emerald eyes of her reflection.

"Yuffie?"

The image vanished and Yuffie saw her regular self, staring back at her. Her regular silvery headband held her short black hair back. She still had her yellow scarf, green shirt and khaki shorts. Her eyes were amber once again and she was relieved. At least she was until the same voice from earlier spoke again.

"Something wrong?"

She whirled around and was once again faced with the fearful presence of the man she despised more than any other. He smiled casually at her and she trembled remembering what he had done nine long years ago.

~~~~

_ The ground was shaking. The sky almost seemed to be falling down upon the four scared figures scrambling across the halls of Hollow Bastion. The youngest one, a young girl of seven years, was clutching tightly an older girl's hand. Aerith smiled warmly at her little companion as if to let her know everything would be okay._

_ "Hurry up!" One of the two boys called back frantically. He kept glancing backwards fearfully. He had spiky blond hair and was dragging a long sword behind him. The youngest girl pumped her legs faster; reaching down to her belt where a slew of plastic ninja stars lay, ready to be thrown the minute one of those terrible black creatures popped up._

_ The eldest boy slowed down a bit and yelled to them over his shoulder._

_ "Cid's airship is just ahead. If we can make it there than we may be able to make it out of here!"_

_ Yuffie trembled. Leave Hollow Bastion? They were going to leave their own home? Yuffie wanted to yell at them. She wanted them to make it all go away. Seven year olds were never meant to see people die. Yuffie's eyes became unfocused as the image of her own parents death played over and over again in her mind._

_ A loud cackling brought her back to reality._

_ "Just where do you all think you are going with my beloved?" Yuffie felt strong arms push her away from Aerith. She fell to the ground and landed hard, biting down on her lip. She poked at her bottom lip, noting that it was bleeding heavily._

_ "Yuffie!" Aerith called frantically as she reached towards the younger child. But strong arms wrapped around her waist and the emerald-eyed flower girl was prevented from moving. She turned around and stared angrily into the face of Sephiroth._

_ "Leave her be!" Cloud yelled, fury evident in his eyes. He started towards Sephiroth, but was beaten to it as Squall Leonhart leapt towards the older man, swinging his Gunblade. Sephiroth laughed and blasted Squall back with a large ball of darkness. Squall flew back and landed hard on his wrist beside Yuffie. His wrist emitted a loud crack as he landed. Yuffie's eyes widened as she scooted to her fallen friend._

_ "Squall..." The seven year old whispered to the sixteen year old. He nodded to signify that he was all right. Yuffie smiled and threw her arms around the boy. He stiffened but then relaxed as he felt her trembling in his arms._

_ In front of him Cloud and Sephiroth were engaged in combat. Aerith was rushing towards Squall. She pulled him to his feet and then lifted Yuffie into her arms. The young ninja began crying as several loud popping noises were heard around them._

_ "Cloud, come on!" Aerith yelled to her friend and long time crush. Cloud didn't even glance back as he spoke:_

_ "Squall, take Yuffie and Aerith and get out of here! Get them onto Cid's ship and stick with them. Go now! The black creatures are coming!"_

_ Squall nodded even though Cloud never saw him. He took Aerith by the shoulders and pushed her towards the doors._

_ "Go! Now!" He yelled to her, she turned back to look at him._

_ "B-but Cloud-!" She cried frantically. Squall shook his head at her and pushed her more._

_ "You have to protect Yuffie, Aerith! I'll try and help Cloud!" He assured her loudly, but gently. Tears ran down the flower girl's cheeks, but she nodded and ran towards the doors, throwing one last glance towards Cloud. When Squall was certain she would keep going he turned back to his friend._

_ When he began running towards where Cloud and Sephiroth were fighting furiously Cloud yelled at him._

_ "Get out of here, Squall! This is **my**__ fight! Not yours! You'll be killed if you don't go!" Cloud pushed Sephiroth back a bit and turned towards his older friend, "Yuffie and Aerith need you. Yuffie is only seven; she needs someone to protect her. You need to do that Squall."_

_ Squall nodded. He had a purpose. He had to protect Yuffie. Years later he would try and convince himself that was the **real**__reason why he had run away._

_ Because he would never admit that maybe the real reason was that..._

_ He was scared._

_~~~~_

A/N: I feel real bad about updating so infrequently. I have two possible ways in mind to go with this story. I'll have to decide soon.

Thanks for all the support. It's really exciting to have 19 reviews in only 2 chapters. It's just awesome.

Yuffie's episode as Aerith was a little...err...odd, dontcha think?


	4. Friend?

**Home**

-Squirrel Tamer

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

**Chapter 4: Friend?**

Squall Leonhart braced himself, knowing very well that what he and the others were attempting was very stupid of them. The borders were back and he knew that, but there was still a false sense of hope buried deep inside of him that gave him the strength to go through with the plan.

Squall looked at the loving couple in front of him. Cloud had been back less then a day and already Aerith was attached to his arm. Earlier Cloud had attempted to make Aerith stay back in Hollow Bastion while they tried to find Yuffie, but Aerith had gone into a rage. Screaming about not losing him again and how Yuffie was almost like a sister to Aerith. Cloud had obviously gotten the point and agreed to let Aerith come along with them.

Besides, Squall thought, Aerith will be a big help if we get wounded in battle. The flower girl knew a whole lot about medicines and healing spells. Aerith wasn't much of a fighter though. While Yuffie had gone off to fight with Squall, Aerith had stayed back in the hotel or the vacant house. It had been nice coming back to her though. It was a very comforting thing to feel all your exhaustion and worries lifted from your shoulders with a simple wave of green. For some time Squall had believed that he could be content living with Aerith as his wife, even though he never admitted it. He had felt bad though, knowing that Aerith was never going to love him. She loved Coud.

So Squall had given up on that love and focused more on his fighting. He became cold and isolated, at least for a little bit. Soon enough Aerith dumped the now ten-year-old Yuffie on Squall. Squall had protested at first, not willing to give up space in his large bed to share with some little brat. Aerith had argued that Yuffie would be safer with him and that she could not believe he could be so selfish when poor little Yuffie needed him.

Poor little Yuffie had grinned wickedly and spent the next six years doing everything in her power to annoy him. It was always 'Squall this' or 'Squall that'. Whenever he made her mad she would have the nerve to lock him out of his own room.

There was a period of time when Yuffie had not slept with him. Aerith had finally noticed that they were actually _sharing _a bed and not taking turns sleeping on the floor. She had begun to worry and had decided that it was time to give Yuffie 'the talk'. She had not been able to make eye contact with him without blushing for at least a month. She had refused to sleep in the bed with him even longer.

How she had managed to avoid him for as long as she had was a mystery to Squall. She'd never show up at the green room at night and the bags under her eyes grew as the days passed by. He could see the exhaustion buried deep within her, but she had refused to come back no matter what he said.

It was only two and a half months later when he walked into the red room to find her propped up against the wall that he had managed to convince her to come back. She had given in almost immediately, nodding and then falling against his chest with a yawn. He had carried her back to the bed, tucked her in and then crawled under the covers himself.

A slap on the back from Cid brought Squall out of his reverie. He scowled darkly and bent his head down to disguise the slight blush in his cheeks as he remembered how it had felt to sleep alone for those two months. He had been very cold and lonely while she was gone. The night she got back, Squall had lain close to her. He could smell her hair and he had shivered. She was thirteen and he was twenty-two. It had been embarrassing for him to feel like that about her. Soon enough he had dismissed the feelings, believing that they were only caused because he was not used to being alone.

Squall pulled himself back to the present again and focused his attention at the front of the cramped gummi ship. Cid sat at the controls, fiddling with the buttons. Cloud was brushing a gloved hand through Aerith's hair, which sent chills down the twenty three year olds back.

Their plan was simple enough. They were going to try and break through the world's barrier (if it really existed). Once out in space they would be able to search through the worlds to find Yuffie. Cloud had been against the plan since Cid had suggested it. He felt that they'd just end up crashing back down to Hollow Bastion. He called it suicide and a stupid idea.

But it was the only idea they had.

"You about done yet?" Cid teased Cloud and Aerith, he was turned around and given a full view of the full on lip lock that had once again resumed when Aerith's butt had gone numb on the floor. Both of them broke apart sheepishly and Aerith blushed. Cid shook his head and turned back to the front.

"Honestly. I knew ya'll back when you was just a bunch of kids. Disgusting. That's what it is," Cid continued to ramble on about 'kids these days'. Squall snorted and Cid whirled around again.

"You aren't really one to talk old man. I've seen some of the ladies _you _hung around with back in Traverse Town. You were all over each other. Made _everyone _sick. Yuffie had to excuse herself. I found her behind the boxes in the ally throwing her guts up." Squall pointed out. Cid turned a bright shade of red and turned back to the controls, seemingly oblivious to Cloud's snickers in the background. Squall himself had gone quiet, as if he were waiting for Yuffie to say something sarcastic to back him up.

"Err...What I mean is...Never mind! Let's just get this thing under way, all right?" With those words he pulled down a lever. The engine revved underneath. More buttons, levers and knobs were pushed, pulled and turned. Squall had absolutely no clue how the old man did it. It was hard to imagine that Sora's friends had been able to drive their own. Maybe it was easier than it looked.

With all of his daydreaming, Squall was completely unprepared as the gummi quickly thrust forward and shot off the balcony before the Rising Falls. He ended up on the floor with a very bloody lip, because he had bitten it as he had fallen.

He lifted himself up the ground and stared out the front window. They were still in the air, but how much longer would that last? They were approaching the edge of the world fast and none of them knew what would happen. Was there really a world barrier? And, if so, is it possible to break through it?

The Heartless had broken the barriers, but was that the only thing that could?

"Holy Hell!!!" Cid yelled; his voice filled with joy. The old man had always loved flying, "We might jus' make it!"

Squall could feel the hope welling up in his chest. He could see the end. They would make it. They had to.

The gummi ship put on a burst of speed. It hit the barrier with full force as a white light erupted around it.

~~~~

"Get the hell out of here!" Yuffie cried angrily and reached down for her ninja stars. She pulled one out and launched it angrily at the silver haired man's head. Sephiroth smiled and took a step to his left; the star flew right by him. Yuffie screamed out in rage and launched another star at him.

This one he caught between two fingers and let it drop to the ground. Yuffie cringed as it hit the floor.

"Come now Yuffie. I thought you could do better than _that_." Sephiroth said a smirk gracing his lips.

Yuffie screeched again and threw one star after another at the older man. He dodged from side to side. Not a single star came close enough to graze by his skin. Yuffie reached for another star and brought up an empty palm. She whimpered slightly and took a step backwards.

At this point she was cursing herself for not listening to Squall when he would demand that she train with him. She had called him stupid and paranoid. It wasn't like the Heartless were _that _tough. Every once in awhile you'd get one that was tougher than the others, but Yuffie knew that they could handle themselves just fine. Of course maybe Squall wasn't worried about the Heartless, maybe he was trying to prepare her for the return of Sephiroth.

Yuffie felt her knees beginning to tremble. She was trapped in a room with an insane ex-SOLDIER and she was completely unarmed. She took another step backwards and then whirled around, hoping to make a run for it.

She reached out for the doorknob to the Green Room, but was thrown back as Sephiroth appeared in front of her. She turned around and he popped up there too.

"Let me go!" She cried and attempted to shove past him.

"**Stopga**." Yuffie had nothing to block the spell with. She didn't even have a chance to scream. Her whole body seized up and she froze, still in mid-run. She heard his footsteps booming on the floor behind her. He was moving to the front of her. She moved her eyes around frantically (her eyes were the only thing unaffected by the spell), trying to avoid having to look at him. She felt something cold touch her cheek.

"Look at me, Yuffie." Sephiroth commanded the young ninja. Yuffie turned her eyes to him slowly and then quickly looked to the ground. He placed his other hand on her right cheek and held her face tightly. "I want you to look me in the eye, Yuffie Kisaragi."

She obeyed and stared straight into his bright green eyes. Unlike Aerith's there was no warmth, no hint of kindness within them. Yuffie wanted to scream, but the stop spell prevented any movement. She was completely in his power.

"Why are you so afraid of me? You think I am going to hurt you, right? Or that I am going to use you to hurt your friends?" Yuffie's mind whirled. She _hadn't _thought that he would use her to get to the others, but the more she thought about it the more likely it seemed. Death was a better option than being used to get to the others. He could even use her to hurt.... Squall...

"Sq-..." She attempted to scream through the spell. Sephiroth seemed taken by surprise before he smiled at her.

"You are stronger than I had thought. You have managed to retain the ability to move your eyes and you were almost able to speak and entire word. Magic does not work well against you obviously. Anyway, what I was trying to say earlier was that I am not going to do any of those things. I'm not _allowed_." Sephiroth scowled darkly and then continued, "You see, Cloud and I had a little rematch, as our first fight was interrupted as we were both swept away in a tide of darkness. We ended up worlds apart, but managed to find our way back to each other. He-...He won. I _begged_ him to kill me, but his own kind nature would not allow it. Instead he gave me the worse punishment of life. He allowed me to live, but he also made me agree to never return to Hollow Bastion, or see Aerith again, unless...." Sephiroth trailed off and Yuffie could feel movement coming back to her body. She moved her jaw around a bit.

"Uwess wha?" She asked kind of awkwardly.

"It does not matter. It is about love and the only love I know is my beloved Aerith."

"Tha...Th_e_n," Yuffie could move her jaw completely, "What do you want with me? Why are so obsessed with not letting me leave? I don't trust you at all! You almost killed Squall!"

Sephiroth grinned.

"I see you feel much for Master Leonhart."

Yuffie felt her cheeks redden. She turned her eyes to the ground. She hated him for making her feel so strange. She had never enjoyed it when people would ask her about Squall and her feelings towards him. She had always figured that they were just friends.

Of course, she also knew that if it was up to her they would be much more than _just friends_. She didn't know why she cared for him the way that she did. She supposed it was just one of those things that are in no way, shape or form explainable.

Whatever the case was, Yuffie was not about to admit it to the man she hated more than anything--aside from Ansem.

"No way!" She muttered angrily.

"I could care less, you know? Deny it and I won't say a word. I just thought that you might want to be honest with me now that we'll be roommates."

"Roommates?" Yuffie could move her body all the way down to her ankles now. She bent over and touched her toes. She did not understand what Sephiroth was playing at. She still did not completely trust him. He had betrayed them all too long ago for her to believe a word that he said.

"I just figured you and I would be staying together. I know it would be awfully lonely all by yourself." Was he teasing her? It was strange, Sephiroth always seemed to be much more serious than that. What was he thinking? Was this just another plot of his?

Well, Yuffie thought, I am _not _going to be a part of it.

"I refuse to sleep in here with you. I'll take the Green Room if you don't mind. It's where I used to stay anyway so some of my junk is still there." Yuffie thought for a moment, "But we'll need food. Look's like I'll have to send you grocery shopping tomorrow. And you'll have to get a bunch of embarrassing personal items for me. And I guess I'm going to need some new outfits, since all mine were brought back with me to Hollow Bastion. And--"

As Yuffie droned on the color drained from Sephiroth's face.

Maybe life with a sixteen year old would be harder than he had originally thought.

~~~~

A/N: Awww.... Poor Sephy! ^-^ I feel kind of bad for him. He'll be running errands for Yuffie for _eternity_! I would love to see his face as he purchased those 'embarrassing personal items'. Teehee!

I know he probably seemed a bit OOC, but that's because he's got something up his sleeve. I wonder what it is?

And I had to update because it's my birthday...err...well by the time most of you read this it will be. I'm updating on the twenty-first so that it will show up on the twenty-second. Fifteen is me! So read and review!!!


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